“There were lots of things, touching, poignant, or queer I wanted to photograph.” –Lee Miller
Lee Miller led an extraordinary life in her 70 years. While not as appreciated in the photography canon as she deserves to be, or widely known for the pioneering contributions she made, with the publication of Lee Miller: Photographs from Thames & Hudson, along with a new film, Lee, starring Kate Winslet, her story is being freshly shared with a younger generation.
Lee Miller’s story is told in these pages by her son Antony Penrose, who also compiled the more than 100 images that reveal Lee Miller’s diverse interests from surrealism and solarization to fashion and portraiture to wartime photojournalism. For anyone who has not discovered Lee Miller’s work, this new edition from Thames & Hudson is an ideal introduction.
What is not told, respectfully so, is the sexual trauma Lee Miller suffered as a young girl to the peculiar relationship with her father who often photographed her nude. And how these experiences impacted her. Lee Miller endured the best and the worst in people. As a photography correspondent in WWII, she also witnessed the unique horrors of Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps. While there was much beauty in Lee Miller’s life, there was also much unhappiness.
Yet, what a life! Lee Miller’s legacy endures. Her passion for art, travel and adventure will always inspire. Lee Miller: Photographs, shows us why her work still matters. –Lane Nevares